Drawing an Emoticon in Expression Blend 4

Following the steps you will be introduced to the Blend Workspace, Panels, Tools & Graphic Element Creation. In this tutorial, we will be creating an "Emoticon" or "Smiley" face from scratch.

Open Blend select file ->New Project.

Select Silver light 3 Application + Website & name the project "Basic Drawing".

After hitting OK, the new project will be created & main page will be open on the Art Board.

Step 2: Draw a Circle -> Select ellipse tool from tool box on the left side of the blend workspace.

Right-click on the rectangle icon to open the sub panel for more shapes.

Click the Ellipse icon or use shortcut key L to select the ellipse drawing tool.

Draw a large circle in the middle of the Art board holding the Shift key.

Step 3: Use of Brush -> Change the brush type with the circle selected -> look at the Properties Panel to the right of the workspace.

At the very top you'll find the Brushes section.

Locate the Fill Brush & change the Brush type from Solid to Gradient by selecting the Gradient Brush icon found in the Brush Type menu below the Brushes.

Step 4: Fill Color -> #f2663c

To make the emoticon look round change to a Radial Gradient by clicking the icon below the gradient bar in the Brushes section.

Select each gradient stop to modify its color & position.

Click on the gradient to add a new stop.

Double-click a gradient stop to remove it.

The gradient shown in the image has three stops: #FDF365: 34.9%, #FEE834: 71.1% & #DEAE32: 100%.

Set the Stroke below the Fill Brush.

Note: The same Brush Types are available for Stroke, for our emoticon the default Solid Black Brush is perfect. To add more, change Stroke Thickness found in the Appearance section from 1 to 5.

Step 5: Draw an Eye -> Select the Ellipse Tool (L) & draw a smaller circle to represent an Eye.

To reposition or scale the circle use the Selection Tool (V).